Ambassador of Iran cautions against Western interference in overthrowing Ayatollah

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After US President Donald Trump floated the possibility of “regime change” in Iran, the nation’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, has warned any Western-led attempt to remove Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be so severe that he does “not want even to talk about it”.

In a wide-ranging interview with SBS, Sadeghi described Iran as “clearly a peaceful nation” that has a “right to enrich uranium”, while referring to US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities as “unprovoked and against international law”.

Here are five key takeaways from SBS’ interview with Sadeghi.

Don’t ‘even think about’ regime change

Asked about the consequences of any attempted regime-change — either Western-led or resulting from an internal uprising — Sadeghi’s response was unequivocal.

“I just advise our adversaries not to even think about it,” he told SBS World News.

“Of course, it would be a very disastrous reaction. I cannot imagine. I do not want even to talk about it.”

Asked if he meant a military response, Sadeghi said: “I do not want to even consider it, that they [the US or Israel] would dare to do that, first of all.”

In relation to a civil uprising, he said the Iranian people had galvanised around Khamenei.

“After these illegal attacks against Iran, solidarity and unity among Iranian people from different [ethnic] groups and ages has solidified,” he said.

Rana Dadpour from Australian United Solidarity for Iran rejected that claim, suggesting Iranian people were “united in surviving brutality”.

“At a time when Iranians are being arrested, executed, and silenced under wartime conditions, it is both misleading and morally indefensible to suggest that the people are united behind the regime,” she said.

“Right now, people are afraid for their lives. Political prisoners are being rushed through executions, and access to the internet has been cut — not just to hide the scale of repression from the world, but to block Iranians from organising, accessing information, or simply reaching loved ones. “

Iran ‘was already in diplomacy’

As the Australian government urged Iran to return to the negotiating table and condemned its retaliatory strikes on US bases in Qatar and Iraq on Tuesday morning, Sadeghi rejected the notion that Iran was the party at fault.

“Iran was already engaging in diplomacy and at the table,” he said.

“We had five rounds of negotiation, and the sixth was supposed to take place on June 30.”

The US strikes came just two days after Trump announced a two-week negotiation window, during which time the US would decide on a course of action.

Sadeghi also referenced Trump’s 2018 decision to end the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, brokered two years earlier by the Obama administration — which imposed restrictions on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief.

“As you recall, in 2015, Iran was not the one leaving the negotiating table or leaving the agreement. Iran carried out all out commitments under the JCPOA,” Sadeghi said.

Inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities have become more difficult since the agreement was scrapped.

A ‘peaceful nation’

When asked about the legality of the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pointed to the need for Iran to “never acquire a nuclear weapon” and the regime’s support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — all designated terrorist organisations in Australia.

“The Iranians … have been a very destructive force in the region,” Albanese told Sky News.

“What we want to see is regional peace and security.”

Sadeghi said Iran is “clearly a peaceful nation”.

A man sitting on a chair, speaking, in front of an Iranian flag.

Sadeghi says Iran is “clearly a peaceful nation”. Source: SBS News

“If you go back through history, 500 years ago up to now, Iran has not attacked, premeditated, or conducted a pre-emptive strike against any neighbours.”

Asked what he considered Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel — the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, claiming 1,200 Israeli lives and seeing 250 Israelis taken hostage — Sadeghi said: “October 7 was not the beginning of the process”.

US strikes ‘unprovoked’ act of war

While labelling the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as an “unprovoked and imposed war against us”, Sadeghi was reluctant to weigh in on the extent of the damage to the nuclear facility at Fordow, which Trump claimed had been “obliterated”.

“Obliteration is a very drastic and grave term,” Sadeghi said.

“Based on the Atomic Energy Agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran report, no radiation has come out [of the facility.] There is no technical report that is verified about the dimensions of the damage.”

He also defended Iran’s “right to enrich” uranium, while skirting questions about the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) reports that Iran had stockpiled uranium enriched to 60 per cent.

“The percentage of the enrichment, it is something that would be negotiated between a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Iran is a signatory of, and the IAEA, based on the need on the ground,” he said.

“Iran has medical use of medical isotopes, of nuclear energy.”

According to the IAEA, uranium enriched beyond 20 per cent is “highly enriched”.

For civilian nuclear reactors, uranium is typically enriched to a level between 3 and 5 per cent.

However, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi also stated the agency did not find “any proof” Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

Australian-Iranians ‘safe’ in Iran

There are more than 3,000 Australian citizens in Iran who have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs for assisted departure, and more than 1,200 in Israel.

Albanese has said “the safety of Australians in the region is our priority”.

Sadeghi said Iran supported the safe passage of dual nationals out of Iran, including via the Azerbaijan-Iran border, where DFAT has stationed consular staff.

“We do have information that they are passing safely,” he said.

Given Iran’s imposition of internet outages, many Australians with loved ones in Iran have told SBS it is extremely difficult to contact family members on the ground — suggesting they also fear reprisals for speaking with Western media.

“I don’t know anything about such preoccupation or anxiety among anybody. I am in touch with a few Iranian-Australians in Iran … they are free to speak. Criticism in Iran is a matter of daily life, Sadeghi said.

SBS has previously reported on concerns held by dual citizens about foreign interference and intimidation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps within Australia, with community members stating there is “overwhelming evidence” of harassment and threats.

According to Human Rights Watch, the regime’s crackdown on the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests sparked by the brutal death of Mahsa Amini in police custody led to the deaths of more than 500 protesters, including 68 children.

It reports “scores of activists, including human rights defenders, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and dissidents, remain in prison”.